The Serin Empire
'The Serin Empire' The Serin are the progeny of the Forerunner god Anax, and follow a strict religious order with 5 primary sects making up their vast empire. The Serin value “Serenity through Conflict” as their highest moral aim, believing that mindfulness even under extreme adversity and struggle is the key to attaining enlightenment. The Serin believe there is a 5 Fold Path to “embracing otherness” that one may walk, and “the total dedication of the self” to this pursuit is the only way to reach “true peace and reconciliation between the body and mind as being separate from the eternal universe.” They additionally believe, while not an official prophesy, that the followers of the 5 Fold Path will one day unify their minds and transcend mortal existence by overcoming the light speed barrier with their psychic will alone, and by seeking the path daily each of the true believers is advancing their genetic evolution in this direction to one day be reincarnated. Evidence for this is scant, and highly doubted by all but the most devout believers, but it is a major contributing factor to the birth rate of the Serin, who have a serious overpopulation problem on many of the worlds they control. The 5 Fold Path adherents are divided into semi-ridged castes from birth. As such the Serin tend to be harshly split between an impoverished lower class that spans the Galaxy and an establishment military power that rules over them all with a vastly superior technological and economic might. Some foreigners say the Serin Empire is a dictatorship, an elite cabal of zealous fanatics using war to advance their frontiers at the expense of all other peoples in the galaxy. Others assume it is a sprawling cult, fuelled by religious ignorance and self-centred delusions of bliss and ideology. Whichever is the case, the Serin are the most populous of the Big 4, due in no small part to their heavy emphasis on procreation as part of their culture and family traditions. Most only ever come to know the chanting and gracious monks of the Pesh Gai’lin, or the vicious and ruthless Mustani warlords, who appear to be the only groups to leave their Core Worlds and visit other races. Because of this the Serin are seen as one dimensional, when really they are more diverse than any other faction. The peaceful Pesh Gai’lin are by volume the most populous of the Serin sects, representing over 50% of all Serin. This is heavily ironic, as the Pesh very rarely leave the world they are born on due to shying away from technology and business to instead focus on charity and meditation. Sub-Cultures * Mustani Baijir * Pesh Gai'lin * Reyshen * Tzishen * I'jing Language Serin is the national language of the Empire, written out as Serin-Skrit. Reminiscent of both Turkish and Hindi, it is a flowing, rapid, and beautiful language. It is often spoken quickly, with sharp, pointed accentuations, as if the speaker is being very mindful of their pacing and control. The language has a near-religious affinity, and because of this it brings a metaphorical connotation to almost any sentence. Notoriously hard to interpret for outsiders, the Serin are masters of simile and metaphor. They use this in conjunction with radio emitting eyes to send vague vocal messages, but exact technical details encrypted in the light they emit to each other. If a member of another race hasn't adapted to understand the Serin encoding on their radio bursts they will not be able to understand what the Serin is saying, interpreting it as gibberish. You may download a copy of this font to use in hidden messages or fan art here: SERIN Font.TTF Enemies and Allies The Lantus Arboreum – The Serin are at best neutral to the Lantus, but may ally with certain sections of their population for trade and mutual defence. Lantus and Serin may even sometimes live together. The Mexam Confederation – The Confederate Navy attacks Serin Mustani on sight. They are at war, and have been a long time, as their cultures are diametrically opposed to one another by law & religion. The Torlan Alliance – The Torlan are caution towards the Serin, sometimes openly at war throughout history. The Serin carry a genetic discrimination gene inserted by Anax to prevent them from comingling. This feud is deep and complicated, the Mustani attack Torlan ships on sight, sometimes just to kill them. The Anactora Peacekeepers – The Anactora is a Torlan establishment, so is tolerated only begrudgingly. Independent Worlds – Most Independent Worlds will willingly trade with Serin, so long as the Mustani stay far away from their trade fleets. Assets & Population Anax taught his Serin children that they had a fundamental right to expand throughout the stars, ruling untold worlds unchallenged and numberless among the heavens. The Serin responded by spending the next 3000 years doing exactly that – conquering dozens of worlds and over 100 star systems. The Serin population currently sits at roughly 18 Billion on 3 Forerunner Worlds and 17 Frontier planets.